SCOTTISH football fans will keep quitting the game unless the SPL spreads the wealth away from the Old Firm and gives them a competition worth watching.

That's the damning verdict of an annual survey taking the temperature of the nation's punters. And even the majority of Old Firm fans agree.

The Supporters Direct survey put the brakes on the SPL's agenda for change last season when they revealed 88 per cent of fans opposed a 10-team league.

And this year that figure is even bigger, despite awareness of the need for four Old Firm games a season to satisfy TV demands.

But the questionnaire also asked what could be done to stop the stands emptying - and an amazing 83 per cent said distributing TV and sponsorship cash equally instead of the lion's share going to the big two could make a difference.

Only 31 per cent of Rangers and Celtic fans asked disagreed. The poll - conducted over a month with 3407 fans responding - showed:

Two thirds of supporters would attend more matches if the gap was narrower between the Old Firm and the rest.

The majority of fans still want a bigger, not smaller, league with 49 per cent favouring a 16-team top flight.

Punters want a pyramid structure, a winter break and an earlier start to the season - but are split on summer football.

They want represented at the top table with the SFA, SPL, SFL and government on all football matters.

SD Scotland chairman Alan Harris said: "For the second year running the biggest survey of fans is telling us Scottish football needs bigger leagues, a fairer distribution of TV revenues and the creation of one voice for fans to represent them.

"The survey definitely achieved something last year because the chairmen of Dundee United, Kilmarnock and Inverness all said they based their opposition to the 10-team league on the views of the fans.

"The SPL also accepted the survey results. They simply argued, 'How do you pay for the shortfall?'

"But we'll be launching our alternative, the fan's plan, in the next few weeks and we have ideas how to make up the difference."

One of those ways will be to take the bulk of the central wealth away from the big two in a bid to create a more competitive league.

Harris revealed: "Scottish football from an attendance point of view is dying. I follow Rangers and until the last two seasons you couldn't get a ticket for an away game. Now they email you for every game asking if you'd like one.

"The one thing we've found is people are saying if it was more competitive they would go more.

"The top two get 32 per cent of the money and it's staggered down from there. If you gave every team the same proportion you'd be taking roughly £1million away from each of the top two.

"Overall, £1m less to Rangers or Celtic doesn't have the same impact as an extra £250,000 for the likes of a Dunfermline. That's big time for them."

Sd development manager James Proctor added: "A diminishing band of people are going to games regularly and we may not get them back unless we do something."